Ghana Bar’s call to reinstate Chief Justice is ‘much ado about nothing’ – Edudzi Tameklo
Ghana Bar’s call to reinstate Chief Justice is ‘much ado about nothing’ – Edudzi Tameklo
Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Mr. Godwin Kudzo Edudzi Tameklo, says the Ghana Bar Association’s (GBA) resolution passed at its mini-conference held over the weekend, directing President John Dramani Mahama to revoke the suspension of Chief Justice, Her Ladyship Justice Mrs. Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, is much ado about nothing.
The GBA’s mid-year conference, held at the Labadi Beach Hotel on Saturday, April 26, 2025, passed a resolution calling on the President to revoke Her Ladyship Justice Sackey Torkornoo’s suspension.
Commenting on the matter on TV3’s New Day, a current affairs programme, Mr. Edudzi Tameklo maintained that the President’s action is in accordance with the 1992 Constitution, and that the GBA’s call amounts to a subversion of the Constitution.
“This so-called resolution is of no use. I won’t say it is useless, but it’s of no use; it’s of no moment. It has no effect as far as President Mahama is concerned,” he said on Monday, April 28, 2025.
“What President Mahama has done so far is to hold fidelity to the 1992 Republican Constitution, which he (John Mahama) has sworn to protect,” the Acting CEO of the NPA added.
According to him, President Mahama’s adherence to the constitutional process is without blame.
“They want President Mahama to revoke or suspend the suspension, by what authority? You want President Mahama to do what the constitution does not say? So that the same Ghana Bar will now say that you have disobeyed the constitution contrary to the Presidential oath you have taken, and for that matter, we are bringing an impeachment process against you?” He asked.
Mr. Edudzi Tameklo alleged that some members of the Bar, who now have access to the petitions and the Chief Justice’s responses, were displeased with the tone and import of the earlier statement issued on Wednesday, April 24, 2025, and signed by GBA National President Mrs. Efua Ghartey and National Secretary Mr. Kwaku Gyau Baffour. This, he claimed, led to the call for a mini-conference and the subsequent resolution.
Some members at the conference took turns to criticise the suspension of the Chief Justice based on the said petitions and the prima facie case determined, and called for a constitutional instrument to guide the processes for the removal of judges.
